Thought For the Day: If A Man Loves the Labour of His Trade, Apart From Any Question of Success or Fame, the Gods Have Called Him

Posted on November 13, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“If a man loves the labour of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him.” -Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist, and poet (13 Nov 1850-1894)

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Individuals deeply devoted to their professions without consideration for recognition or achievement have found their calling. We should all be this lucky in life. Intrinsic motivation and personal satisfaction should be found in one’s work. It is the existential responsibility toward oneself. True value is created with each effort, and significance is found. This is how we make our sense of agency and find purpose in our lives.

Living life with purpose and significance taps into the intrinsic motivation needed to gain a more meaningful and gratifying existence. Markers of success are just that—markers, nothing more. We must honor our individuality and transcend society’s boundaries. Everyone needs to work and have an income, but why not enjoy this as we do? This places the right attitude in our hearts, which becomes gratitude for what God has given us.

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First Principles: It Is To Be Regretted That the Rich and Powerful Too Often Bend the Acts of Government To Their Own Selfish Purposes

Posted on November 13, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.” – Andrew Jackson, in his Veto Message to Congress regarding the Bank of the United States (July 10, 1832)

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This statement regarding the Bank of the United States was made on July 10, 1832. Then as now, politics seems to remain largely the same. Like Trump, Jackson was adulated and hated beyond comparison to most, if not all, of our presidents. It is no wonder that Trump respects Jackson perhaps too much. Though there are many things to dislike about Jackson, he did stand up against the corrupt rich at this time and against demonstrable corruption.

The struggle over rechartering the Second Bank of the United States led to a veto and culminated in its demise. As this bank became defunct, it was replaced by state banks. Many supporters argued that the Bank of the United States created stability. The prevailing counter to this was the unavoidable fact that widespread corruption was associated with the bank. Jackson and his faction fought to clean up the Swamp (another connection between Trump and Jackson). Essentially, the principles of equal opportunity were violated through public money used for risky private investments, political interference, and economic privileges conferred by preference on a small group of stockholders and financial elites.

Today, as we have seen through the years of lawfare and other corrupt acts, these corrupt practices still need to be guarded against.

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Rodin’s Artistry

Posted on November 12, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
Rodin's Artistry
by Michael Doyle

Some pursue the fine arts for immortality
That makes a degree of sense thoroughly
After all, you start with a marble block
But see what you will transform from rock

Like water, the shape begins to conform
The chisel drips patiently to transform
Art is pleasure in a thinker's mind
What is wasteful, somehow remains behind

Rodin believed in the depth of his vision
Contemplation felt deep and with precision
The heights and depths of a man's appetite
Starts and finishes with feeling right

Right with nature; right with God's home
And the knowledge that we're never alone
Love won and lost is just another complication
Felt deep with a sculptor's contemplation

It is the reflection of an artist's heart
But only his guided hand knows to start
Then to finish so that any work is just so
And any fool will be sure to see and know

Rodin believed in the depth of his vision
Contemplation felt deep and with precision
The heights and depths of a man's appetite
Starts and finishes with feeling right

There is truth in the movements observed
And all the names called as if deserved
There in the spontaneous act called reality
Is the genuine spark we call creativity

Terra-cotta, plaster, bronze, and stone
The lonely, tortured heart must atone
Drip by drip comes the light of better days
Announced without words, the artist says

Rodin believed in the depth of his vision
Contemplation felt deep and with precision
The heights and depths of a man's appetite
Starts and finishes with feeling right

(c) November 12, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: Patience Is Also A Form of Action

Posted on November 12, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Patience is also a form of action.” -Auguste Rodin, sculptor (12 Nov 1840-1917), attributed to Rodin in Hesitation: Impulsivity and Reflection, p.124, by Leonard William Doob

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Action is most commonly thought of as being proactive and doing something tangible. However, it is a profound and strategic choice to accept the challenge of waiting for the right timing and being patient. For example, a sculptor must have the patience of water, chipping away at stone for the desired form to come to fruition. It is a matter of deliberation that is manifest in many human activities if we wish them to come out correctly.

Our fast paced society often forgets this. Overly hasty responses often lead to immediate but less than perfect results. It is better for market conditions to be favorable and until products have been refined and fully tested for safety and other pertinent considerations.

This is also true in personal development. Delayed gratification can lead to more rewarding and satisfying outcomes. We study to achieve great grades. We save money to make the purchase we want rather than what we can simply afford. Good things take time. Deliberate and strategic choices lead to the best long-term results. Int his way, patience is a reliable strength in our endeavors.

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First Principles: It Is My Constant Anxiety and Prayer That I and This Nation Should Be On the Lord’s Side

Posted on November 12, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“I am not at all concerned about that…. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.”– Abraham Lincoln, cited in F.B. Carpenter’s Six Months At the White House , p. 282 (1866) p. 282. 

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In or about 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, a man described only as a pious minister remarked to Lincoln that he hoped God was on the Union’s side. Lincoln without hesitation, replied that it was the nation’s part to be on the Lord’s side. Though the exact wording of Lincoln’s response is a little contested, the encounter is not. Our republic needs to remain on the Lord’s side always to our best ability.

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Fiona’s Bee

Posted on November 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever 
Fiona's Bee
by Michael Doyle

There by the grace of April's sleet
Was a bumble bee at Fiona's feet
It was good to start her morning pleasantly
Caught up in a childhood memory

Her father had taught her to pet them gently
Fiona did so then very affectionally
Bee walked onto her palm in serenity
Wingless though she was, Bee felt no urgency

It's not truly a Copernican revolution
That humans and fellow creatures have communication
There is a certain sense of resplendence
That suggests this is more than coincidence

It's only adult loss of tender sensibility
That erases our recall of this capability
There is no clear, bright boundary line
That questions the kinship of hearts and minds

Bombus Tetris; a queen without wings
With a warm buzz, she gently sings
Comfort was given sugar water drips
As Bee preened between her tiny sips

Helping others didn't take practicality
It takes doing what is within one's ability
And a heart given harbor doesn't need locks
Fiona let Bee sleep live in a kitchen box

Good turns tend to build bonds of affection
Each of these stacks into that connection
The beauty and wonder of this is transcendence
Acts of random kindness are mankind's repentance

Even when we lack the self-awareness to know
Like God's lit candle selfless acts tend to glow
Shining a little light on unintentional facts
The God we know, knows us by our intentional acts

Though it may seem to lack in true relevance
Children's stories hint at animal intelligence
As Bee learned to be present as Fiona's company
There came tiny acts by Bee in synchronicity

Fiona and Bee came to share each other's pleasure
Memories that outlived Bee and Fiona treasures
Human moments lived are the passing of many years
Until finally Bee passed to Fiona's loving tears

These dances of love speak to mankind's maturity
As slowly, we grow beyond species in our decency
Maybe it's the prerequisite that ends the tragedy
Of halting mass extinction to replenish biodiversity

The impact of man has been felt in the Anthropocene
Will our grandchildren's draw contrast and glean
That we are in some ways gods who must become good
As they look at the tragedy become understood?

(c) November 11, 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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First Principles: We Must Not Let Our Rulers Load Us With Perpetual Debt

Posted on November 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And, to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” – Thomas Jefferson, Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval (1816)

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This letter may be read in its entirety at:

“Proposals to Revise the Virginia Constitution: I. Thomas Jefferson to “Henry Tompkinson” (Samuel Kercheval), 12 July 1816,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-10-02-0128-0002.

The common man’s independence in this republic will only be preserved if those elected or otherwise in government are not allowed to keep us in perpetual debt. Whatever the situations faced by one generation, we as a nation should not bind our next generations into debt as a result of that cause. It anyone should know the ill effects of perpetual debt, certainly Jefferson was among those most qualified. This sort of debt posed insurmountable risk and was irresponsible be it personal or in government. It weakens government stability and naturally this weakens the ability to improve prosperity.

The world belongs to the living and the future to our children. Let’s hand them the best world that we can. This precludes getting and staying in irresponsible debt. Yet, here we presently are. Let’s not encourage the growth of fiscal chains on our children’s children, right?

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Happy Veterans Day 2024

Posted on November 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

I hope that all of my fellow veterans have had a safe and excellent Veterans Day this November 11, 2024. I have had some excellent chow and encountered a number of veterans along the way. There is an overwhelming kinship for those who have served and truly love their country. I know that if you’re a veteran you know what I mean. I want to thank all who have made for a glorious day of memories. It’s not just the Marines out there, but every branch of service is filled with those who are forever faithful. Thank each and every one of you from the bottom of this sailor’s heart and soul.

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Thought For the Day: Silence Is Only Frightening To People Who Are Compulsively Verbalizing

Posted on November 11, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.” – William S. Burroughs, The Job Interviews With William S. Burroughs

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In all his phases and evolutions, William S. Burroughs was perhaps more radical than most of the Beat Generation. He ushered in postmodern fiction and post-structural philosophy and play an imminent role in the countercultural movements beginning in the 1950s. Sex, drugs, and conspiracies that the Left were okay with once. Most of this work, like The Naked Lunch, dealt with the marginalized. The rumor has it he was always in a quest for freedom.

Somehow he missed that he was over verbalizing and should have spent more time in the quiet and finding that only God can set a person free through His truth. In the above quote, Burroughs spoke to the discomfort some feel when confronted with silence. I wonder if that included himself. To find peace, a body need to learn how to be still. It’s in this stillness that one finds God. Only in God does one find true peace.

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First Principles: I Know Your Deeds, That You Are Neither Cold Nor Hot. I Wish You Were Either One Or the Other!

Posted on November 10, 2024 by alohapromisesforever

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!” – Revelation 3:15 (NIV)

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The Laodicean church was told that nothing escapes Jesus’s attention. Lukewarm faith has stern consequences. In those days, lukewarm water carried dangerous concerns. Cold water suggests coming from a spring or river, while hot water is clean. Lukewarm water was, at best, suspicious.

The status quo is not sufficient. Churches today that attempt to live in harmony with the evils found in contemporary society are lukewarm, usually worthless, and at times outright dangerous to the Christian faith. Meaningless handshakes while going through the motions of liturgy too often lead to indifference about godly matters. Jesus desires deep involvement with a committed faith. Otherwise, there is just is a lack of real faith and engagement. No neutrality can be allowed to stand when it comes to spiritual matters.

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